Text Giving: A Tool, Not a Miracle

I'm not the most handy guy around, so, for the safety of my family, I don't have a lot of power tools. But a while back, I got a drill. I needed to make small, round holes in some things, and the drill helped me do it with great efficiency and a lot of cool noise. I loved that drill. It made holes in nearly anything I wanted to put a hole in. A kind of drill rapture overtook me. I saw that drill as the most elegant tool in the box. So much better than those boring hammers and screwdrivers.

Before long, I started to think of new ways to use the drill. Things didn't go well at all when I tried to use it to give the cat her medicine. (Note to cat owners: Don't even try it. Every other cat-medicine tool on the planet is better than a power drill.) It really came to a crashing end when I tried to use my power drill to wash the windows.

I learned a lesson that day: No matter how great a tool is, it has limitations. A lot of nonprofits could use that lesson when it comes to fundraising tools — especially the shiny, new tool of mobile text giving. An astounding amount of money was raised in January for Haiti relief through text giving. The American Red Cross alone raised about $30 million. Several other organizations did well, too.

Before you knew it, nonprofits large and small (and their eager consultants) were scrambling to implement text-to-give. It was like a gold rush involving angry Chihuahuas and hyperactive punk rockers.

What I'm trying to say is that it was frenetic and kind of weird. It seems you're just one big loser if you don't offer text-to-give.